Bagging systems having rotation mechanisms

ABSTRACT

Bagging systems having rotation mechanisms are disclosed. According to an aspect, a bagging system includes a base that defines an area for placement of a shopping bag. The bagging system also includes a bag support attached to the base and positioned to support the shopping bag in the defined area. Further, the bagging system includes a rotation mechanism that rotatably attaches the bag support to the base with an axis of rotation that is vertically aligned with the bag support.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The presently disclosed subject matter relates generally to retail checkout systems and equipment. Particularly, the presently disclosed subject matter relates to bagging systems having rotation mechanisms.

BACKGROUND

In retail environments, such as grocery stores and other “brick and mortar” stores, customers typically shop within a store and subsequently proceed to checkout for purchase of items at a point of sale (POS) terminal. The POS terminal may operate to conduct a self-checkout purchase transaction with the customer, or the POS terminal may operate to conduct a purchase transaction with the customer with assistance of store personnel. Such purchase transactions typically involve scanning a bar code of each item for purchase by the customer in order to calculate and display a total amount owed by the customer for the products. Subsequently, a purchase transaction for the customer may be completed after entry of payment information by the customer or store personnel.

Many POS terminals include one or more supports for holding shopping bags in place while either the customer or store personnel places items in the shopping bags. In many instances, shopping bags are plastic bags supplied by the retailer. Alternatively, the shopping bags may be made of paper. In some other instances, reusable shopping bags are brought into the store by the customer. Such bags are typically made of durable material such as cloth or polyester material. Often shopping bags are prone to at least partially collapse such that it becomes difficult for the customer or store personnel to place items in the bag. To address this issue, various bag supports, platforms, and various other systems have been developed to hold bags open and otherwise make it easier and more efficient for customer and store personnel to bag items. Although advancements have been made in these areas, there is a continuing need to improve shopping bag holders and systems in order to improve checkout efficiency and improve customer satisfaction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus described the presently disclosed subject matter in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying Drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top view of an example POS system including a bagging system in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the example POS system 100 shown in FIG. 1 with the bag supports being rotated to a different position than shown in FIG. 1 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the example bag support shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of an example POS system including a bagging system affixed to a carousel in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 5 is a top view of another example bag support in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

SUMMARY

The presently disclosed subject matter provides bagging systems having rotation mechanisms. According to an aspect, a bagging system includes a base that defines an area for placement of a shopping bag. The bagging system also includes a bag support attached to the base and positioned to support the shopping bag in the defined area. Further, the bagging system includes a rotation mechanism that rotatably attaches the bag support to the base with an axis of rotation that is vertically aligned with the bag support.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is made with reference to the figures. Exemplary embodiments are described to illustrate the disclosure, not to limit its scope, which is defined by the claims. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize a number of equivalent variations in the description that follows.

Articles “a” and “an” are used herein to refer to one or to more than one (i.e. at least one) of the grammatical object of the article. By way of example, “an element” means at least one element and can include more than one element.

“About” is used to provide flexibility to a numerical endpoint by providing that a given value may be “slightly above” or “slightly below” the endpoint without affecting the desired result.

The use herein of the terms “including,” “comprising,” or “having,” and variations thereof is meant to encompass the elements listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional elements. Embodiments recited as “including,” “comprising,” or “having” certain elements are also contemplated as “consisting essentially of” and “consisting” of those certain elements.

Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. For example, if a range is stated as between 1%-50%, it is intended that values such as between 2%-40%, 10%-30%, or 1%-3%, etc. are expressly enumerated in this specification. These are only examples of what is specifically intended, and all possible combinations of numerical values between and including the lowest value and the highest value enumerated are to be considered to be expressly stated in this disclosure.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

FIG. 1 illustrates a top view of an example POS system 100 including a bagging system in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. In this example, the POS system 100 is a self-checkout POS system, but it should be understood by those of skill in the art that the bagging system may similarly be used in a POS system that is configured for checkout with assistance by store personnel. The POS system 100 may be one of several POS systems 100 located in a store for use by customers to conduct purchase transactions for items within the store.

Referring to FIG. 1, direction arrow 102 indicates the general direction of movement of a customer 104 in front of the POS system 100 when using the POS system 100 to conduct a purchase transaction for purchase of one or more items from a store. After shopping and selecting item(s) for purchase, the customer 104 may either carry the item(s) by hand or in a shopping basket or bag, or use a shopping cart to carry the item(s) to the POS system 100 for conducting the purchase transaction. The POS system 100 may include a platform 106 upon which the customer 104 may place some or all of the item(s). The platform 106 may be positioned conveniently for the customer 104 prior to the customer 104 scanning bar codes on the items or manually entering in identifiers for the items into the POS system 100.

The customer 104 may initiate the purchase transaction by interacting with a user interface 108 of the POS system 100. For example, the user interface 108 may include a touchscreen display 110, and the customer 104 may touch an area on the display 110 to initiate the purchase transaction. After initiating a purchase transaction, the POS system 100 includes a bar code scanner 112 that can be used by the customer 104 to scan items. The POS system 100 may include suitable hardware, software, and/or firmware for processing identifiers for the scanned items in order to process a purchase transaction for the items.

The POS system 100 includes a bagging system, generally designated 114. Subsequent to scanning items, the customer 104 may place items in shopping bags at the bagging area and/or otherwise place the items at the bagging area while other items are scanned or the purchase transaction is completed (e.g., the customer interacts with the POS system 100 to pay for the items). Particularly, the bagging system 114 may include a base platform 116 having a top surface 118 that is substantially planar and horizontal. The top surface 118 is an area for placement of items after scanning or their identifiers have been entered for purchase of the items.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the bagging system 114 includes multiple bag supports 120A, 120B, and 120C that are each rotatably attached to the base platform 116. Alternative to the base platform 116, the bag supports 120A, 120B, and 120C may be attached to any other suitable type of base that can carry the bag supports. The bag supports 120A, 120B, and 120C may be rotatably attached to the base platform 116 such that they can rotate about axes of rotation, generally designated 122A, 122B, and 122C, respectively. In this example, the axes of rotation are perpendicular or at least nearly perpendicular to the top surface 118 of the base platform 116. In other words, the axes of rotation extend upward or at least substantially upward from the plan view plan view of the system 100 shown in FIG. 1. Direction arrows 126A, 126B, and 126C show respective directions of rotation by the bag supports 120A, 120B, and 120C. To permit rotation about respective axes of rotation, a rotation mechanism (part of which is designated by references 128A, 128B, and 128C) rotatably attaches respective bag supports 120A, 120B, and 120C to the base platform 116.

Each bag support 120A, 120B, and 120C may include a lower platform 130 having a top surface where a shopping bag can be placed while being held by a frame 132. Each frame 132 may have arms that extend over the top surface of the platform 130 for carrying a shopping bag. The arms may be configured for holding an upper portion of the shopping bag such that the bag is held open to facilitate a customer placing items in the shopping bag.

A bag support 120A, 120B, and 120C may be easily rotatable by a customer such that the front of the bag support faces the customer 104, thereby the customer 104 can more easily access a shopping bag held by the bag support. For example, the customer 104 may more easily be able to place items in the shopping bag and subsequently remove the shopping bag. Referring now to FIG. 2, this figure shows the POS system 100 of FIG. 1 with the bag supports 120A, 120B, and 120C being rotated to a different position than shown in FIG. 1 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, the bag supports 120A, 120B, and 120C have been rotated to a position such that they face the customer 104. In this example, such positioning may be convenient for the customer 104, because the customer 104 is at a position for using with the user interface 108, display 110, and bar code scanner 112. Particularly, the arms 200 of the frames 132 extend in a direction towards the customer 104 (i.e., such that the bag supports 120A, 120B, and 120C face the customer 104).

Subsequent to scanning items and placing items in the shopping bags, the customer 104 may complete the purchase transaction by interacting with the user interface 108 or a card reader 202 to provide debit card information or credit card information to pay for the items. A receipt for the purchase transaction may be printed by a printer 204. Subsequently, the customer 104 may remove the shopping bags from the bag supports 120A, 120B, and 120C and exit the store with the bagged, purchased items.

FIG. 3 illustrates a side view of the example bag support 120A shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 3, this figure shows additional details about the bag support 120, particularly additional details about the rotation mechanism 128A in this example. The rotation mechanism 128A rotatably attaches the bag support 120A to the base platform 118 with the axis of rotation 122A. The axis of rotation 122A is aligned with the bag support 120 in a vertical direction indicated by double-headed arrow 300. Arrow 302 indicates the direction that the bag support 120A is facing, i.e., a direction where the arms 200 of the frame 132 extend.

In this example, the rotation mechanism 128A includes an axle 304 that aligns and turns with the axis of rotation 122A. The axle 304 may be, for example, any suitable type of cylindrically-shaped object, such as a pin or bolt, for holding the bag support 120A in place with respect to the base platform 118 but also permitting rotation of the bag support 120A about the axis of rotation 122A. Component 306 may attach an end of the axle 304 to the platform 130. Component 308 may attach an end of the axle 304 to the base platform 118. The rotation mechanism 128A and its components (i.e., the axle 304 and components 306 and 308) are shown by broken lines to indicate that they are depicted in cross section.

FIG. 4 illustrates a top plan view of an example POS system 400 including a bagging system 114 affixed to a carousel 402 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 4, the carousel 402 can turn in the direction of arrow 404 about an axis of rotation 406. The carousel 402 can also turn in a direction that opposed the direction of arrow 404.

Attached to the top of carousel 402 are bag supports 408A, 408B, and 408C. The bag supports 408A, 408B, and 408C are rotatable with respect to the carousel 402 along an axis of rotation 410A, 410B, and 410C, respectively. The axis of rotation 406 of the carousel 402 is outside of vertical alignment with each bag support 408A, 408B, and 408C. The customer 104 may thereby position the bag supports 408A, 408B, and 408C in desired positions by rotating the bag supports about the carousel and/or individually rotating the bag supports about their respective axes of rotation.

FIG. 5 illustrates a top view of another example bag support 500 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 5, the bag support 500 includes a lower platform 502 and a frame 504. The bag support 500 also include a rotation mechanism 506 for rotatably attaching the bag support 500 to a base with an axis of rotation 508 vertically aligned with the bag support 500 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

In accordance with embodiments, the bag support 500 may include a handle 510 attached to the platform 502 for assisting a customer to rotate the bag support 500 about the axis of rotation 508. The handle 510 may be of any suitable shape and size. Further, the handle 510 may be attached to any suitable part of the bag support 500, such as the frame 504.

In accordance with embodiments, the bag support 500 may include a locking mechanism 512 configured to be placed in a position to hold the bag support 500 in a fixed position and to be removed from the position to release the bag support 500 for rotation about the axis of rotation 508. The locking mechanism 512 may be pulled by the customer in the direction indicated by arrow 514 to release the bag support 500 such that it is free to rotate. By releasing the locking mechanism 512, the locking mechanism 512 may return to a position for locking the bag support 500 in place and prevent rotation. The locking mechanism 512 may include a spring or other resilient member for returning the locking mechanism 512 to the position for locking the bag support 500 in place. A pin 516 may be part of the locking mechanism 512 and suitably controlled by the pull and release of the exposed part of the locking mechanism 512 to hold the bag support 500 in the fixed position. In this example, the exposed portion of the locking mechanism 512 is on the side of the platform in order to be clear of the area for placement of a shopping bag within the frame 504.

In accordance with embodiments, the bag support 500 may include a detent configured to arrest rotation of the bag support at different angles about the axis of rotation 508. For example, the platform 502 may include magnets 518 integrated therein and each configured to cause resistance to rotation of the bag support 500 about the axis of rotation 508 due to their attraction to one or more magnets (not shown) positioned with the fixed platform between the bag support 500. The magnets 518 and the corresponding magnets beneath them may function as a detent to arrest rotation of the bag support 500 at different angles about the axis of rotation 508. For example, the rotation of the bag support 500 may be arrested when it faces along one of the broken lines 520 that extends outward from the axis of rotation 508. In this way, the bag support 500 is biased to stay in one of these spaced apart angles. In an example, the angles may be spaced apart from a neighboring angle at approximately the same angular spacing as shown in FIG. 5, or at irregular spacings. When the bag support 500 does not face along one of the broken lines 520, it can freely rotate about the axis of rotation because the magnets are not aligned or substantially aligned to strongly attract one another for resisting rotation.

In examples disclosed herein, the top surface of the platform of a bag support is substantially square in shape. For example in FIG. 5, the area within the frame 504 is substantially square. However, it is noted that the area may alternatively be substantially circular or rectangular in shape. For example, the arms may be extended or shortened to form a rectangular shape as a top surface within the frame 504 for placement of a shopping bag.

In accordance with embodiments, a bagging system as disclosed herein may be configured with a scale for measuring a weight of items placed on the base and/or in a bag held by a bag support. The scale may provide the weight measurement to a computing device to determine if the items match or closely matches what was scanned.

The described features, structures, or characteristics disclosed herein may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the disclosed subject matter can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the disclosed subject matter.

While the embodiments have been described in connection with the various embodiments of the various figures, it is to be understood that other similar embodiments may be used, or modifications and additions may be made to the described embodiment for performing the same function without deviating therefrom. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments should not be limited to any single embodiment, but rather should be construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A bagging system comprising: a base that defines an area for placement of a shopping bag; a bag support attached to the base and positioned to support the shopping bag in the defined area; and a rotation mechanism that rotatably attaches the bag support to the base with an axis of rotation that is vertically aligned with the bag support.
 2. The bagging system of claim 1, further comprising a platform positioned in the area for placement of the bag, wherein the platform is fixedly attached to the bag support.
 3. The bagging system of claim 2, wherein the platform defines a top surface for the placement of the shopping bag.
 4. The bagging system of claim 2, wherein the axis of rotation extends in a vertical direction that is substantially perpendicular with respect to the top surface.
 5. The bagging system of claim 3, wherein the top surface is one of substantially circular, square, and substantially rectangular in shape.
 6. The bagging system of claim 3, wherein the axis of rotation extends through the top surface.
 7. The bagging system of claim 1, wherein the base is attached to a point of sale system.
 8. The bagging system of claim 1, wherein the base is attached to a bagging carousel configured to rotate the base about an axis of rotation outside of vertical alignment with the bag support.
 9. The bagging system of claim 1, wherein the bag support comprises a plurality of arms that extend over the defined area for carrying the shopping bag.
 10. The bagging system of claim 9, wherein the arms are spaced apart, and wherein the axis of rotation extends through the space between the arms.
 11. The bagging system of claim 1, further comprising a locking mechanism configured to hold the bag support in a fixed positioned with respect to the base such that rotation about the axis of rotation is prevented.
 12. The bagging system of claim 11, wherein the locking mechanism comprises a slidable pin configured to be placed in a position to hold the bag support in the fixed position and to be removed from the position to release the bag support for rotation about the axis of rotation.
 13. The bagging system of claim 12, wherein the pin in the position to hold the bag support in the fixed position is clear of the area for placement of the shopping bag.
 14. The bagging system of claim 1, further comprising a handle attached to the bag support for assisting a user to rotate the bag support about the axis of rotation.
 15. The bagging system of claim 1, further comprising a detent configured to resist rotation of the bag support about the axis of rotation.
 16. The bagging system of claim 15, wherein the detent is configured to arrest rotation of the bag support at a plurality of predetermined angles about the axis of rotation.
 17. The bagging system of claim 16, wherein the detent permits free rotation of the bag support about the axis of rotation at angles outside of the predetermined angles.
 18. The bagging system of claim 16, wherein predetermined angles are spaced apart from a neighboring angle at approximately the same angular spacing.
 19. The bagging system of claim 15, wherein the detent includes a first set of magnets attached to the base and a second set of magnets attached to the bag support.
 20. The bagging system of claim 19, wherein the magnets of the first set are attracted to the magnets of the second set at one or more angles about the axis of rotation such that rotation of the bag support about the axis of rotation is resisted. 